Mobile communication devices including cell phones, PDA's and smart phones have become commonplace in our society. Most mobile telephones are no longer just used as a telephone device; rather these devices have much more sophisticated applications. For example, smartphones are capable of e-mail, internet access, text messaging, SMS messaging and providing GPS directions. Many smartphones can also track user location, and allow users to opt-in to disclose their location information to a list of “buddies.” These buddies can use their mobile devices to determine other buddies' locations providing the queried buddies have granted the querying buddies access (e.g., via a buddy list).
“Mobile Find my Buddy” applications are those in which a mobile device application displays a map on the screen of the mobile device and plots the locations of a given user's buddies. This is done via interworking with one or more servers in the network that store and manage user identities and locations. These systems may or may not also represent those buddies' present status (e.g., busy, listening to music, etc.). The screen on which one buddy sees his/her other buddies is sometimes referred to as the “radar.” It is rendered on the mobile device and sometimes on a desktop device as well. These applications are also known as “buddy trackers,” “friend locators” among others.
In existing buddy applications, the applications report the location of the users to a server. The buddy application then pulls locations of the users' buddies and displays them on a map for the user. As the user pans and zooms in his/her radar screen, the user's map can then display new buddies now within range. As buddies pan and zoom in their radar screens, the buddies map can then display the user's location previously not in the range of the buddies' radar screen.
FIG. 1. is an illustration of the present model of buddy locator services. A user 2 enters identifying information of a buddy 4 into the application 3 on the user 2's mobile device. Buddy 4 enters the identifying information of user 2 into the application 5 on the buddy 4's mobile device. Both user application 3 and buddy application 5 can be the same obtained software program. Both user 2's application 3 and buddy 4's application 5 send location information to a server 6. Server 6 sends user 2's location information to buddy 4's application 5. Server 6 also sends buddy 4's location information to user 2's application 3. If the map view of user 2's application 3 encompasses the location buddy 4 is in, buddy 4's location will be indicated. If the map view of buddy 4's application 5 encompasses the location user 2 is in, user 2's location will be indicated.
The present model of these buddy locator services allow users to opt-in to being visible to a pre-defined group of buddies. Users can modify the group and also can change their visibility (e.g., be visible, invisible etc.) to the buddy list group as a whole or to individuals on the buddy list. For users to make themselves invisible to others on their buddy list, they typically have to manually change the settings on their mobile devices.
As more and more services become available, it becomes increasingly difficult for a given user to keep track of which of their buddies they should be visible to and which they should not at a point in time or place. For example, if a user has two or three different buddy lists with two or three buddy mapping services, it quickly becomes difficult to manage visibility on a buddy by buddy basis. Further, it becomes harder to change settings for each individual buddy when you don't know his/her location or whether he/she will be viewing your location in the near future. For a variety of reasons, a user may want to have awareness of his visibility across a variety of other buddies' and groups devices through time and location.
For users, manually making themselves invisible or stopping the service during times when they want privacy is annoying, disruptive, and time consuming. Simply shutting off the buddy mapping service will affect all of the user's buddies, a consequence that may not be desired. Having to turn off visibility on a per buddy basis, in turn, forces the user to manage a potentially large set of individualized settings and quickly becomes infeasible with scale.
The services presently available do not provide any advanced warning or awareness to a user as to which of the buddies on the user's buddy list is viewing the user's location, or when one of the buddies on the user's buddy list will be viewing the user's location in the near future, either by the buddy physically travelling into a specified range around the user, or the buddy searching a map on the buddies' mobile device. Presently, the user must assume that for all of the buddies listed on all of the user's buddy applications for whom the user has set a visible status, the user may appear on those buddies' radar screens at any time.
Accordingly, there is a need for a user of a buddy, mapping application to be notified based on the actions of any or all individual listed buddies and to have visibility options prior to becoming visible to buddies.